When Chain Restaurants Swagger-Jack Great Culinary Ideas

You can’t patent a recipe—which presents a bit of a problem in the culinary world. Come up with some clever food idea, and before you’ve even been noticed by Pete Wells, the copycats and counterfeiters will have already swooped in. They’re looking to quickly knock-off your gastronomical genius, mass-producing much more of your foodie-friendly creation than you ever could, and almost certainly charging less than is seemingly feasible. The most likely culprit of this edible swagger-jacking? Giant fast-food chains.

To a certain extent, you can’t blame these foodstuff Fortune 500s. Most of today’s viral noshing items are coming from small, single-location purveyors in just one city. Many of them likewise necessitate lining up early in the morning to even nab, say, a single Cronut or ramen burger. Don’t want to queue up or can’t afford a flight to, say, Nashville? Then you’re out of luck in ever getting to try hot chicken or bagel bombs, or whatever the new hotness is.

But if you’re a food-obsessive living in Oklahoma, Iowa, or Alaska, you might actually be thankful that the international chain parked in your mall’s food court has suddenly given you access to an item you’ve for so long clog your Instagram feed. Of course, you realize the bone broth some flunky is ladeling into a Panera-branded bowl is not as good as what some hipster is serving in the East Village; that it’s also a pathetic attempt to cash in on a scorching-hot trend. But does that even matter to most Americans?

Clearly not, as some of the following swagger-jacked items have proven to be massive hits for the corporate behemoths that released them in the past few years, with many going from special limited-time releases to mainstay menu items. Even many of the original creators don’t seem to care all that much—perhaps because they don’t think anything can ever top their original idea.

“Ramen Burger is not just a burger, it’s a global brand,” a representative for The Original Ramen Burger wrote for Munchies upon being swagger-jacked by a chain. “Many restaurants from the corner ramen shop to national burger chains have tried to imitate it, but have failed. Ramen Burger is an embodiment of Keizo (Shimamoto)’s vision and passion, which can never be replicated.”

Maybe the vision and passion aren’t getting replicated, but diners seem more than willing to take the bait of fast-food conglomerates. To catch you up to speed—and keep you cognizant of these food's true origins—here are some blatant examples of swagger jacking.

Nashville Hot Chicken

The formula seems so simple that it’s hard to believe one place is credited with inventing it, but indeed Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville is the bona fide hub for hot chicken, which produces a fiery, cayenne-laced golden bird. A favorite of chef Sean Brock and Bon Appetit's restaurant editor Andrew Knowlton, Prince's has been pumping out this beloved delicacy since the 1930s. Enter KFC, too cowardly to call themselves Kentucky Fried Chicken anymore, still shameful enough to co-opt a Tennessee specialty countless decades later. Making fried chicken spicy is a unimpeachable plan though, and early reports on Nashville Hot Chicken has KFC calling it “the most successful product testing in the company’s recent history.”

Red Ramen Burger

The Ramen Burger™ created a stir when it was first introduced at Brooklyn’s outdoor food flea Smorgasburg in 2013. The concept Shimamoto had created seemed so silly—a beef patty sandwiched between a bun made of fried ramen noodles. It didn't take long for hour-long lines soon formed, and eventually additional pop-ups proliferated around the world. Red Robin’s version—a possible trademark infringement name-wise—is far less inspired and several years too late. The Washington-based chain with an epically annoying jingle chooses to top their patty with teriyaki sauce, “chiu chow” aioli, and a chili-infused slaw before slapping it between two crispy noodle slabs. The embarrassing knockoff will supposedly be available for just a limited time—though no word on whether that’s simply because we can’t imagine anyone thinking this is a “top” ramen burger.

Croissant Doughnut/Bisnut

Another trademarked food sensation (again, in name only), the croissant-doughnut hybrid known as the "cronut" is the brainchild of New York City-based pastry chef Dominique Ansel, who debuted the star pastry in 2013. Long lines—composed of both locals and tourists—still snake around his Soho block, and at one point a black market had even emerged. Never one to not hijack a trend after their board of directors spent way too long deciding whether they should, Dunkin' Donuts introduced their fauxnut a year later. Carl’s Jr. released a knock-off that same year, at least having the dignity to make it into a biscuit/doughnut mash-up. Though both sold pretty well, reviews of each were generally lackluster.

Poutine á la Burger

Nowadays, poutine is considered as much a stereotype of Quebecois culture as ice fishing, cans of Molson, and cheap strip clubs. The ubiquitous road-side dish—french fries covered in cheese curds and brown gravy—is so obviously delicious, a chain would have been silly not to toss it on their menu. Enter Burger King, an enterprise that currently thinks Whopper-izing a hot dog is innovative. Their “Poutine à la burger” mucked up the infallible foodstuff by unnecessarily adding chopped Whopper meat, mustard, ketchup, and pickles to the fray.

Bagel Balls

Christina Tosi is one of the nation’s most acclaimed pastry technicians, flexing her wares at New York’s Momofuku Milk Bar. There she’s created such sensations as chorizo challah, cereal milk soft serve ice cream, and something called Bagel Bombs, which she first began cranking out in 2011. These ball-shaped bagels are filled with smokey bacon scallion cream cheese, veggies, and even pork shoulder. It was an obvious swagger-jacking maneuver when Starbucks enlisted the help of Bantam Bagels just last year to put “Bagel Balls” in all their locations. Sure, they were a tad smaller than the “Bombs,” but they were essentially the same product. Momofuku impresario David Chang went off on Instagram, ruthlessly mocking the charred coffee chain for swiping his protege’s brilliant idea.

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